西恩·潘--新闻工作者或宣传家

Sean Penn: Journalist or Propagandist? 西恩·潘--新闻工作者或宣传家

There has been praise and condemnation¹ for Hollywood star Sean Penn this week.

Sean Penn has had controversial moments throughout his public life.

But this week, the public learned that Penn met with the leader of a brutal² Mexican crime group. The Sinaloa group is known for especially vicious killings³, torture and drug dealing⁴.

The actor interviewed Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in October 2015. Guzman had escaped from a Mexican federal prison in July. It was his second escape. He was on the lam from 2001 to 2014 after the first prison break. He was serving a 20-year sentence for murder and drug trafficking.

Rolling Stone magazine published Penn’s interview online January 11. Mexican federal police recaptured El Chapo a day earlier.

In his article, Penn explained why he wanted to meet the crime leader. The actor wrote that he wanted to “explore what may be inconsistent” with the American government and media’s descriptions.

Penn is a longtime political activist⁵. He has involved himself in international affairs at high levels. In 2007, he met and befriended Hugo Chavez, who was then the socialist⁶ president of Venezuela.

The U.S. government was not a fan of Chavez, who allied⁷ himself with Cuban leaders Fidel and Raul Castro. When Chavez died in 2013, Penn said the U.S. “lost a friend that it never knew it had.”

Penn also has met with Raul Castro. And he got involved in the Falklands dispute between Britain and Argentina. The actor met with Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in 2012, after Britain made military moves toward Argentina.

Penn sided with Argentina in that dispute. He said the world would not accept “archaic⁸ colonialist ideology⁹.”

Penn has written about his experiences for the news media before. He visited Iraq in 2004, and Iran the following year. He wrote about those experiences for the San Francisco Chronicle. Penn had been to Iraq earlier to protest international military strikes against the country.

The star also helped in times of natural disaster. He started a foundation to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti. He also went to New Orleans shortly after Hurricane Katrina and reportedly rescued some survivors¹⁰.

And in 2012, Sean Penn went to Bolivia to visit a U.S. businessman jailed there. Jacob Ostreicher had been jailed for months and never charged with a crime. Penn promised to work for his release. A year later, Ostreicher was out of jail in the care of Penn. He has publicly thanked Penn for his efforts.

Penn’s interaction with Joaquin Guzman, the drug kingpin, was set up by another actor. Kate del Castillo has expressed support for the crime group leader for several years. She said she believes the Mexican government is the more corrupt¹¹ of the two.

Guzman and Castillo exchanged a series of texts. She suggested that the criminal meet with Sean Penn. Reports now suggest that Guzman had never heard of Penn. His interest in meeting del Castillo was apparently¹² stronger.

Penn said in his Rolling Stone report that he wanted to see the other side of the drug war. He has said that professional journalists are too focused on talking to different sides in an issue.

Perhaps this is why Sean Penn did not ask Guzman about the hundreds of reporters killed in Mexico to protect organized crime. Among the many media professionals angered by Penn, Mexican reporters are especially upset.

Journalist Leon Krause wrote about the actor’s article in El Universal newspaper. He described it as “perfect act of propaganda” for Guzman. He wrote that Penn’s version of Guzman "is almost likeable if it wasn't for (his cartel's) 10,000 murders."

Other reporters criticized Penn and Rolling Stone for sending the piece to Guzman for approval before publication.

Sean Penn dismisses the journalistic objections to his story. He says the press is simply jealous that he was able to get to Guzman. But Penn also says his interview and article were a failure.

He told television host Charlie Rose that he had hoped the story would start an honest and critical conversation about the drug war. But he said, "I have a regret that the entire discussion about this article ignores (that) purpose…”

Officials in Mexico have said that Sean Penn’s interview helped them find and capture Guzman. Penn denies this and says he does not fear the Sinaloa crime group.

Words in This Story

controversial - adj. relating to or causing much discussion, disagreement, or argument

brutal - adj. extremely cruel or harsh?

interview - v.  to question or talk with (someone) in order to get information or learn about that person?

on the lam - expression  trying to avoid being caught by the police?

inconsistent - adj. not in agreement with something?

archaic - adj. old and no longer used?

ideology - n. the set of ideas and beliefs of a group or political party?

kingpin - n. a person who controls an organization or activity?

conversation - n. an informal talk involving two people or a small group of people: the act of talking in an informal way

1 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

2 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

3 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

5 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

6 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

7 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

8 archaic   

adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的

参考例句：

• The company does some things in archaic ways,such as not using computers for bookkeeping.这个公司有些做法陈旧，如记账不使用电脑。
• Shaanxi is one of the Chinese archaic civilized origins which has a long history.陕西省是中国古代文明发祥之一，有悠久的历史。

9 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

10 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

11 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

12 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。